On Feb 10, 2010, at 9:00 AM, Robert Holmes wrote:
So Google continue in their quest to take over the multiverse.
Anyone tried Buzz, their Facebook & Twitter replacement?
I wish I could make sense out of the Google Ecology. I certainly have
tried! It seems a hodgepodge of everything, with very little
distinction amongst the parts.
Just one example is that they do not have a single-sign-in. You often
can use your gmail account, which I don't want but have to have, but
other of the services have not yet integrated into the Blob.
They seem great for developers: Google App Engine and all that. Yet
they do seem to go hot/cold on their support on GAE for their core
languages. They started out with a Django (python) template engine.
Then they added Java. But not Javascript, other than via Rhino, the
Java implementation and part of the current Java release.
The API to their Calendar service is a nightmare (we're trying to
integrate it into the new sfx website) .. they decided to not do their
own but simply use part of the Zend (php) core which is a huge mess.
Why? Php is not one of their languages (Java, C/C++, Javascript,
Python). I like their not using PHP but they could easily have
provided a simple REST solution. They didn't (and no, I don't mean
iFrames, I want the data. Heck, JSON would be fine.)
Then the Wave hit. Isn't it Buzzy? How's it differ from other
offerings. Are their APIs so developers can hot rod it? Hows it fit
into the rest of their stuff.
And there already is Google Groups, a weird mashup of mail-list, with
pages and media upload. But no really effective spam control. And
they own Postini, for heaven sakes! Why don't they plug them together?
Then there's Domains and Google Apps. And no, that's not Docs, its an
attempt to let businesses have traditional web hosting but with the
advantages of the rest of the Blob .. er .. Ecology. Thus far non of
us have figured out how to use it.
And android, WTF? Its a phone, no its a web-book, no its a real OS,
no its for a future gawd-knows-what device like the iPad. I don't get
it!
This mess should not be surprising. After all, they have only one
product: advertising.
But, man, I'd like to have at least a HINT of where they're going.
Are they simply interesting islands of capabilities, not meant to be
integrated? Or is there an underlying plan of some sort? Or is it
simply a shot gun beta machine with us being the dopes who separate
out the good ideas from the bad!?
-- Owen
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